CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1989 Colorado

11–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Big Eight), coached by Bill McCartney, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Colorado in 1989, game by game: won vs. Texas 27–6; won vs. Colorado State 45–20; won vs. No. 10 Illinois 38–7; won at No. 21 Washington 45–28; won vs. Missouri 49–3; won at Iowa State 52–17; won vs. Kansas 49–17; won at Oklahoma 20–3; won vs. No. 3 Nebraska 27–21; won at Oklahoma State 41–17; won at Kansas State 59–11; lost vs. No. 4 Notre Dame 6–21+48−15Won 27–6 vs. Texas+21TexasWon 45–20 vs. Colorado State+25Colorado StateWon 38–7 vs. No. 10 Illinois+31No. 10 IllinoisWon 45–28 at No. 21 Washington+17No. 21 WashingtonWon 49–3 vs. Missouri+46MissouriWon 52–17 at Iowa State+35Iowa StateWon 49–17 vs. Kansas+32KansasWon 20–3 at Oklahoma+17OklahomaWon 27–21 vs. No. 3 Nebraska+6No. 3 NebraskaWon 41–17 at Oklahoma State+24Oklahoma StateWon 59–11 at Kansas State+48Kansas StateLost 6–21 vs. No. 4 Notre Dame-15No. 4 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsTexasW 27–⁠669%
Sep 9vsColorado StateW 45–⁠2083%
Sep 16vs10IllinoisW 38–⁠770%
Sep 30at21WashingtonW 45–⁠2845%
Oct 7vsMissouriW 49–⁠384%
Oct 14atIowa StateW 52–⁠1771%
Oct 21vsKansasW 49–⁠1792%
Oct 28atOklahomaW 20–⁠345%
Nov 4vs3NebraskaW 27–⁠2150%
Nov 11atOklahoma StateW 41–⁠1767%
Nov 18atKansas StateW 59–⁠1194%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4Notre DameOrange BowlL 6–⁠2142%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 21–⁠6 in the Orange Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big Eight champions.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 3
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 2
  13. Wk 13: 2
  14. Wk 14: 1
  15. Wk 15: 1
  16. Wk 16: 1
  17. Final: 4

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1989.

Big Eight champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteDarian Hagan, fifth

3 consensus All-AmericansJoe Garten, OG; Alfred Williams, LB; Tom Rouen, P

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearBill McCartney, coach; also the Walter Camp Coach and Bear Bryant Award

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Eight
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 1
Points
458–⁠171
Coach
Bill McCartney
Elo
1730 +168 this season
SP+ rating
29.0 No. 4 of 103; offense No. 5, defense No. 13
SRS
24.4 No. 5 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gerry DiNardo
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Sal Aunese, Bill Coleman, Mike Jones, Erich Kissick and Bruce Young
Most valuable player
Darian Hagan
Offense
I-Bone option
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 5Jeff Campbell WRDetroit Lions

All-Big Eight

8 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

  • J.J. FlanniganRBAP-2
  • Jeff CampbellWRAP-2
  • Joel SteedDLAP-2
  • Michael JonesLBAP-2
  • Bruce YoungDBAP-2
  • Ken CulbertsonPlace-kickerAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Big Eight standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Colorado7–⁠011–⁠14
Nebraska6–⁠110–⁠211
Oklahoma5–⁠27–⁠4
Iowa State4–⁠36–⁠5
Oklahoma State3–⁠44–⁠7
Kansas2–⁠54–⁠7
Missouri1–⁠62–⁠9
Kansas State0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.